Nine Months to Fall in Love
by thesydda
Summary: Hermione's pregnant, but it's not your average pregnancy. Malfoy's filling in while her regular doctor is on maternity leave - ironic, no? They've got nine months to fall in love -and one month is already gone. Can a pregnancy really bring two enemies together? Or is Hermione destined to get her heart broken in more ways than one?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm still working diligently on my other story: Potion's Maker, Level 3. This is just a plot bunny I couldn't fend off with carrots. I'm about halfway through the next chapter of PML3 – should be up in a couple of days. Loves to you all!

Hermione swung her feet, while sitting on the table in the doctor's office, waiting for him to come in and confirm what she already knew was true. She was pregnant! Oh, Ginny and Harry would be so happy! She couldn't wait to tell them. As she was planning on the best way to tell them, the door to the office finally opened; she was immensely glad she'd put her clothes back on after the nurse left when she saw who it was.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here? Get out!" she shrieked.

"Now, now, Granger. If only that wounded me; I just have to stay long enough to tell you that while I can't imagine who you paid to have sex with you, you've somehow managed to get yourself knocked up. Congratulations, you and Weasley get to start your own brood of brats. How you'll support them, I'll never know."

"Oh, you! You shut your mouth. You know absolutely nothing. I will ask you only one more time – what. Are. You. Doing. Here?" She reached for the wand in her pocket and withdrew it, pointing it at his throat. "And how the hell do you know I'm pregnant? Those results are PRIVATE!"

"Chill out, Granger. I'm a doctor and I work here. I have your results for those same reasons. Seriously, they call you the Brightest Witch of our Age, but you can't even see what's standing right in front of you."

It was then that she noticed his lab coat and the stethoscope around his neck. "What? You? You're a doctor? But, but I researched this practice and there was no mention of you! I wouldn't have come here…" she trailed off.

"Again, Granger, I say chill out. I'm filling in for Dr. Falene – she, ironically, just had to leave the practice to have her own baby. I'll just be here a few weeks. I thought you were a Gryffindor – you can tough it out a few weeks, right?"

She narrowed her eyes and huffed at him. But before she could say anything, he cut her off.

"Besides, you're only about four weeks along; you won't have regular appointments for a while. You might never see me here, again."

He wasn't sure why he as trying to convince her to stay at the practice; he didn't want to lose any of Dr. Falene's patients, but still, this was GRANGER. Granger, whom he'd known since he was 11. Granger, with the bushy hair, infuriating knowledge, and hideous taste in friends. But he did find that he was curious as to how she found herself in this predicament. There was no wedding ring on her finger and Weasley wasn't even at this appointment with her! If _his_ girlfriend/fiancée/ wife thought she was pregnant, he'd be right beside her the whole way – every appointment, without fail. Well, to be fair, he _was_ a doctor; he might be at the appointments as the doctor, truthfully. God, Weasley was even less of a man than he thought!

"Where's the Weasel, anyway? Too chicken to support his woman?" he baited her. Oh, he _loved_ baiting Hermione. It had been too long since he'd had the chance to spar with her.

"Stop bad mouthing Ron!" she exclaimed. "He doesn't know I'm here."

He waited a beat for her to continue and when it became obvious that she wasn't going to elaborate, he filled the silence. "You mean you haven't told him you might be pregnant? Geeze, Granger, keeping secrets from your lover? That doesn't bode well."

He'd walked closer to her since coming in to the office and was now leaning an elbow on the table near where she was sitting. She reached over to shove him – he infuriated her!

"Merlin! Don't you ever shut up? Would it kill you to say something nice about Ronald?" Rolling her eyes, she continued, "_NOT_ that it's _any_ of your business, Ferret, but Ron isn't the father; he and I never slept together," she declared, eyes flashing and cheeks flushed from embarrassment, though he assumed the blush was from anger.

He wrinkled his brow. "If you aren't sleeping with the Weasel, who knocked you up?" he asked, genuinely curious.

She huffed again, "If you must know, Harry is the father of this child."

**A/N: Don't stone me! I PROMISE Harry and Hermione didn't sleep together. This is NOT a Harry/Hermione story in any way, shape, or form. This is Dramione all the way – I just have to set it up. It'll be great – would I lie to you?**

**PLEASE review and let me know what you thought!**


	2. Sacrifice?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The characters are not mine.

A/N: Trigger warning: the end of this chapter talks about pregnancy troubles – difficulty getting pregnant, difficulty keeping a pregnancy, etc. If this is going to trigger you, please don't read. I'll include a summary of the events that you need to know to enjoy this story in my author's note at the beginning of the next chapter.

Happy reading to the rest of you!

_Draco wrinkled his brow. "If you aren't sleeping with the Weasel, who knocked you up?" he asked, genuinely curious. _

_ She huffed again, "If you must know, Harry is the father of this child." _

Silence reigned in the room after her pronouncement, as he struggled to comprehend what she said.

"What? You mean? All those rumors back in school were _true_? You really were with both Potty and Weasel?" He watched as her face turned a brilliant shade of red and her eyes practically shot sparks.

She popped to her feet in anger, "How _dare_ you? You nasty, little git. You _would_ listen to gossip and foul rumors."

He rose to his feet, as well, and cut in when she stopped to take a breath, "It's only a rumor if you can't prove it true, Granger. I have the results right here that say you're pregnant and by your own admission Scarhead's the father. You better hope your baby isn't facially deformed like him."

Before she could register her action, she heard a loud smack and felt her hand stinging. She gasped as she realized that she had hit him across his face and watched as he rubbed his fingers lightly across his cheek.

"Nasty temper you've got there, Granger. I hope Potter knows how to handle you; maybe he even enjoys your dominant side. Is that it? Weasel couldn't keep up with you, so you left him for Potter who gets off on your bossiness."

"**You. Are. Foul.** You understand _nothing_ about the situation. Nothing! Do you hear me?" She shoved her hands in her pockets to avoid hitting him again, though there was no question in her mind that he deserved that, and more.

With no outlet for her aggression, she couldn't seem to get her temper back under control. She tried counting to ten in her head, but if anything, it seemed to make the situation worse; she could feel her anger rising. She watched as some glass jars, filled with cotton balls and tongue depressors, began to rattle on the table across the room.

Draco's eyes flew to the jittering glass jars, quickly figuring out that Granger's increasing ire was causing her magic to go haywire. As much as he normally wouldn't care at all for her safety, he was technically her doctor here and he'd taken an oath to "first, do no harm." He did the first thing he could think of to shut her magic down and aimed a 'Petrificus Totalus' at her. He caught her before she could fall to the floor and lifted her back onto the exam table. She was glaring fiercely at him and he hovered over her for a moment before saying, "I need to go get you a calming draught. Don't move." Her glare managed to increase and he left the room with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

He returned moments later with the draught and stalked over to the table she was laying on. "Here are the ground rules, Granger: I don't like you, but for the moment I am your doctor. I can't speak for your normal temperament, but I would imagine you have a rather nasty temper to begin with. This is being exacerbated by the pregnancy and the increase in your hormones, which is all causing your magic to go haywire. Bursts of accidental magic can be dangerous for unborn children, so you will need to control your temper," he saw her eyes narrow at that. He continued, trying not to let on how much he was enjoying telling her what to do, "you'll also want to keep the situations where you know you're going to get worked up to a minimum."

_It's a good thing I won't be around you, then, isn't it?_ She thought to herself. He was lucky that she couldn't move or speak at the moment. She understood that she needed to keep herself calm, but it was so _hard_ when Malfoy was involved. She'd make sure she never came to see him again.

"Alright, Granger, before I give you this draught, I need you to agree that you're going to calm down. I will endeavor to be professional with you; there are a few questions you have to answer for your medical chart and then we can both go our separate ways and never see each other again. Blink your eyes if you think you can agree with that."

She wanted to not blink her eyes just to spite him, but knew that would get her nowhere. She blinked her eyes slowly. Draco reversed the curse he'd used on Hermione and allowed her to sit up. He passed the draught over to her when she reached her hand out for it. She swallowed the contents of the vial in one gulp and closed her eyes briefly, as the feeling of peace washed over her. When she felt fully in control once again, she opened her eyes and asked, "What is it you need to know?"

Draco picked up her medical chart and asked, "What was the date your last menstrual cycle started?"

She flushed a little at telling him such intimate information, then reminded herself that, as unlikely as it seemed, he was a professional. "April 15th."

"Are your menstrual cycles regular?"

"Like clockwork."

"Do you know who the father is?"

"Malfoy! I already told you," she said harshly, while glaring at him.

"Granger, this will go _so_ much faster if you can just answer the questions."

She took a deep breath in before answering, "The father is Harry Potter."

"How long have you two been seeing each other?"

She spluttered. "Why on earth do you need to know that information?"

"Seriously, Granger? Answer the question! I need to ascertain if you're in a committed relationship."

"Why? Are you interested in being in a committed relationship with me? Cause I'd rather snog Buckbeak than date you."

"By Salazar, you crazy witch! No, I don't want to be in a committed relationship with you! I need to know if you're in a relationship because your care at the practice will change depending on whether you have a partner, or not. We provide extra care for single parents, as well, as encouraging patients with significant others to have those others come to the appointments. There are also different resources I will need to give you if you're going through this pregnancy alone."

Her cheeks blossomed rosy red by the end of his statement. She'd thought he was pulling her leg with his last question. She meekly replied, "Harry and I aren't in a relationship. Not a sexual one, anyway."

"A one night stand, then Granger? Or, perhaps friends with benefits?"

"Ew! Malfoy, stop being foul! Harry and I have never slept together; he's like my brother!"

"I hate to break it to you Granger, but you can't get pregnant without sleeping with someone."

"You can through in vitro fertilization."

That stopped him in his tracks. "If you're not in a relationship with him, why would you go through IVF with him? You obviously love him enough to let him be the father of your child. Yet, you chose to have all of the work, and none of the fun of getting there. What goes on in that know-it-all brain of yours?"

"It wasn't like that, Malfoy. I mean, it wasn't the work without the fun." She immediately flushed, realizing how that statement sounded.

"So you DID sleep with Scarhead? You're not making any sense here, Granger. Maybe I need to admit you for a psych evaluation."

She growled in frustration. "You're not listening! You're asking the wrong questions. Nothing is coming out right!" She was getting worked up again, even with the calming draught singing in her veins.

"Alright, Granger, let's just take a break. I can't have you freaking out again, as I can't give you another dose of calming draught this soon." When she just glared at him, he continued, "I'm going to step out of the room for a few minutes; when I get back, you'll just tell me your story – we'll drop the questions, for now."

When he left the room, she immediately pulled out her wand and turned the lights off. She lay back on the table, threw one arm over her eyes, and tried to get comfortable. It would be easier to relax if she could just turn her brain off. But she also needed to figure out how much she needed to tell Malfoy about her situation. It wasn't entirely her story to tell, but he was her doctor, at least at the moment. She took several deep breaths in and released them each slowly, trying to recapture her Zen feeling from earlier, when the potion first took effect. She promised herself a treat if she could just make it through the rest of this appointment without losing her cool. Maybe a shopping spree at the bookstore? Or some ice cream? She'd figure it out when she left the office. She kept her eyes closed as she made a mental to-do list for when she left. She still needed to figure out how to tell Ginny and Harry about her pregnancy. And the rest of the Weasleys. And her parents. She was just beginning to drift off to sleep when she heard the door open.

Once Draco stepped out of the office and left Hermione to her thoughts, he'd wandered down to his office. Technically it was Dr. Falene's office, but it was his temporarily. He sat down heavily in a chair and propped his feet on the desk. He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights – sometimes it felt like he thought better in the dark, possibly from living so many years in the dungeons of Hogwarts. _What has Granger gotten herself into this time?_ He wondered. He didn't particularly care what she did with her life, but found himself surprisingly curious to hear the rest of her story. What a tale he'd have to tell if she'd gotten herself knocked up by The Boy Who Lived, like it seemed she must have. Why anyone would want to sleep with that blemished freak, he'd certainly never understand. Let alone, the most annoying, frizzy haired, know-it-all on the planet. Maybe they were a decent pair, after all.

After a few minutes, he figured he'd probably given her enough time to cool off. He heaved himself out of the chair and headed to the staff breakroom. He grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge and, after asking himself what he would do if his patient was someone else, grabbed a second bottle to give to Granger.

Upon walking back into the office, he was surprised to notice the lights had been turned off, and he thought briefly of turning them on again, just to annoy Granger. But they might help keep her calm, and that was his ultimate goal. A calm Granger would mean quicker answers, and the quicker the answers, the faster this stupid appointment would be over. Glancing momentarily at Granger, he wondered if she might have fallen asleep; as he was about to risk waking her up, she spoke, startling him – not she he'd ever let her know that.

Hermione was startled from her near sleep by the sound of the opening door. She knew almost immediately that it was Malfoy, even though he hadn't spoken a word. She didn't know quite how she knew it was him – there was just a change in the air. She could feel it along her arms. Before she could dwell too much on how aware she seemed to be of Malfoy, she blurted out, "The baby is Harry's, but he and I never slept together. You haven't bothered to ask who the mother is."

"Well, Granger, I didn't think that question needed to be asked. As you are the one here, and you are the one pregnant, it seems that _you_ must be the mother." He spoke slowly, as if speaking to someone extremely stupid.

She sighed. "Oh, Malfoy, you do lack imagination."

"I don't find that particular trait very necessary working in the sciences. Besides you have no idea what my imagination is capable of."

She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see them. "Just ask, Malfoy. Three words: Who's the mother?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Who's the mother?" he mimicked her.

Suddenly she was sitting up and staring at him with suspicious eyes. "Before I tell you anything, I feel the need to remind you that you can't share anything I tell you in here."

"Granger, please. Like I really want to go around talking about you and your pathetic life."

"Whatever, Malfoy. This isn't just my life I'm talking about. I need some assurance that you aren't going to share what I'm about to tell you."

"What kind of assurance? I won't do an Unbreakable Vow for you."

She scoffed. "I'm not asking you to, Ferret. But I need something more than just your word."

"Fine. A Wizard's Oath? If I tell anyone you can hex me."

"Not good enough. It's possible I won't find out you've told anyone. Get me some parchment."

He just stood where he was, like he hadn't heard her demand. There was no way he was going to let her order him around.

"Malfoy, would you please get me some parchment? We're going to sign an agreement; well, you're going to sign it, anyway."

He glared at her for a moment, before reaching into the drawer of a desk in the corner and pulling out the needed paper. He thrust it at her, along with a quill and some ink. She hastily wrote out:

_I, Draco Malfoy, agree not to tell anyone the things Hermione Granger reveals to me today. If I tell anyone these things, I will find myself with green hair, which will alert Hermione that I have done what I swore I would not do. She is then free to hex me in any way(s) she sees fit (short of death). _

She slid the parchment towards him. He started reading her words and snorted when he got to the consequences of running his mouth. "Green hair, Granger?"

"Keep reading," she ordered. She watched as he did so before scrawling an addition to end of her writing and handing it back to her. She glanced at it and grinned, in spite of herself. Her note now read:

_I, Draco Malfoy, agree not to tell anyone the things Hermione Granger reveals to me today. If I tell anyone these things, I will find myself with green hair, which will alert Hermione that I have done what I swore I would not do. She is then free to hex me in any way(s) she sees fit (short of death, maiming, incapacitation, and anything lasting longer than a week). _

"Touché, Malfoy." She signed her name at the bottom with a flourish before handing the paper back to him, again.

He signed the paper, as well, before prompting her, "Well, Granger, who's the mother?"

She folded the paper and placed it in her pocket for safe keeping. "Ginny Potter is the mother."

He quirked an eyebrow to get her to continue.

"Harry married Ginny five years ago, when he was twenty and she was nineteen."

"Granger, you realize I'm not a stranger to that part of their story, yeah?"

Her cheeks pinked slightly and she said, "I didn't realize you followed their relationship."

"It's kind of hard to avoid hearing about the two of them. I'd have to be living under a rock to miss all the headlines regarding them."

She ignored him and continued her story. "They started trying to have a baby right away; you know, Ginny's from a large family and wants lots of children. And Harry, well, he's an only child and always wanted lots of siblings."

Sensing she was going to take her own time getting through this story, he took a seat on the desk across the small room from her. He propped his right foot on top of his left knee and settled in.

"They got pregnant right away, but… well, they lost the baby at 5 months. It was awful walking through that with them. It was a little girl."

He could hear that talking about it was still painful for her and he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Since then they have struggled to get pregnant again. Two years ago they went through their first round of in vitro fertilization. The embryo didn't implant. Since then, they've done four more rounds, none of which resulted in a viable pregnancy. They were devastated after each failed cycle."

She was openly crying now, the memories obviously quite painful. He reached for one of the bottles of water that sat, still unopened, on the desk beside him. He twisted the cap off of one and handed it to her. She took a moment to compose herself while drinking from the bottle and nodded her appreciation.

"They've given up on IVF working and started talking about getting a surrogate six months ago. They checked with several different agencies, and they actually interviewed several potential candidates, but they just kept saying that while they each seemed nice, it was uncomfortable to experience such an emotional time with a stranger."

"So they asked you to do it?" he asked, incredulous.

"No, they didn't want to encroach on our friendship that way. I approached them and offered to be a surrogate for them. It seemed the least I could do to help them have a family. I don't have a family to take care of; there didn't seem to be a good reason not to, and there were so many excellent reasons to do it."

He snorted. "Of course there were." He saw she was going to describe them to him. "No, Granger, don't bother explaining the reasons to me. As your doctor, at this point in time, I don't need to know your emotional reasoning. All I can say is it's so very Gryffindor of you to sacrifice yourself this way."

"Sacrifice?" she asked him.

"You're ruining your life so that your friends can have a baby? What kind of idiot are you? You're supposed to be the Brightest Witch of Our Age. What a crock!"

"You couldn't possibly understand the love I have for them. If I can help them attain this goal by any means, then I wanted to do it."

"I can't believe they let you do it. How selfish!"

"Malfoy! They didn't just let me do it. I practically had to twist their arms to let them let me do it. They tried everything to change my mind, but I'm stubborn." She smirked slightly at the snort he let out over her stubbornness.

He couldn't help thinking this was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. Or possibly the bravest. He shook his head at his thoughts; it was _definitely_ the stupidest. "When did you have the procedure done?"

"A month ago. I didn't have to wait this long for an appointment, but I wanted to be sure, with absolutely no chance of giving Ginny or Harry false hope."

"Well, you're definitely pregnant." He could see the excitement building in her eyes again. "I think that's all the questions I need you to answer for now. You'll need to schedule another appointment for next month before you leave. If you have any bleeding or spotting, come back to the office. If you run across any other questions, just call the office and a nurse can help you. Knowing you, this next part is probably unnecessary, but let it never be said I half-arse my job." He reaching into the desk drawer again and withdrew several pamphlets. "These will help you figure out how to have a healthy pregnancy, symptoms you can look forward to, and answers to frequently asked questions."

She took the offered brochures eagerly and rose to leave. She stood awkwardly, not sure what to say before leaving the office.

He rolled his eyes again, "Granger, we're not friends; you don't need to take your leave from me. You can just go."

She walked hurriedly out of the office he could hear her growling as she left. It put a smile on his face. He loved irritating her.

A/N: Don't worry if you still have some questions about what's going on – I'm planning on explaining more as the story continues. However, if you do have questions, don't hesitate to ask – I'll answer them as long as they don't give away the plot of the story.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter – I struggled some writing it, having never been pregnant. I researched ivf and surrogacy, but if I got anything wrong I apologize.

Also, I had hoped to have this up a couple weeks ago, but life has been a little bit hectic (major changes at work, not sleeping well, busy evenings, which is when I usually get my writing in). I'd love to say that next chapter won't take so long, but the best I can say is that I'll try not to take as much time.

Thank you for all the lovely reviews and follows. Thank you: LillyRM1, Tessa Cresswell, Bianca the crazy slytherin, izzie, TheAwesomeOne897, The Butterfly Dreamer, amartin0507, GreggSomething, Angie, skari, and MattsMarshMello.

Special thanks to everyone who guessed Hermione was acting as a surrogate – sorry I was unable to confirm your suspicions

Angie – I loved your idea about a drunk Draco being the father


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